scholarly journals Effects of local advection on the spatial sensible heat flux variation on a mountain glacier

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 2887-2905 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Sauter ◽  
Stephan Peter Galos
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Flow Direction ◽  
Sensible Heat Flux ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Topographic Effects ◽  
Sensible Heat ◽  
Wind Fields ◽  
Mountain Glacier

Abstract. Distributed mass balance models, which translate micrometeorological conditions into local melt rates, have proven deficient to reflect the energy flux variability on mountain glaciers. This deficiency is predominantly related to shortcomings in the representation of local processes in the forcing data. We found by means of idealized large-eddy simulations that heat advection, associated with local wind systems, causes small-scale sensible heat flux variations by up to 100 Wm−2 during clear sky conditions. Here we show that process understanding at a few observation sites is insufficient to infer the wind and temperature distributions across the glacier. The glacier-wide hourly averaged sensible heat fluxes are both over- and underestimated by up to 16 Wm−2 when using extrapolated temperature and wind fields. The sign and magnitude of the differences depend on the site selection, which is used for extrapolation as well as on the large-scale flow direction. Our results demonstrate how the shortcomings in the local sensible heat flux estimates are related to topographic effects and the insufficient characterization of the temperature advection process.

scholarly journals Effects of local advection on the spatial sensible heat flux variation on a mountain glacier

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Sauter ◽  
Stephan P. Galos
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Flow Direction ◽  
Sensible Heat Flux ◽  
Local Heat ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Topographic Effects ◽  
Wind Fields ◽  
Mountain Glacier ◽  
Mountain Glaciers

Abstract. Distributed mass balance models, which translate micrometeorological conditions into local melt rates, have proven deficient to reflect the energy flux variability on mountain glaciers. This deficiency is predominantly related to shortcomings in the representation of local processes in the forcing data. We found by means of idealized Large-Eddy Simulations that heat advection, associated with local wind systems, cause small-scale heat flux variations by up to 100 Wm−2 during clear sky conditions. Here we show that process understanding at a few on-glacier sites is insufficient to infer on the wind and temperature distributions across the glacier. On average, glacier heat fluxes are both over- and underestimated by up to 16 Wm−2 when using extrapolated temperature and wind fields. The sign and magnitude of the errors depend on the site selection as well as on the flow direction. Our results demonstrate how the shortcomings in the local heat flux estimates are related to topographic effects and the insufficient characterisation of the temperature advection process. The magnitudes of the surface heat flux errors are strong enough to significantly affect the surface energy balance and derived climate sensitivities of mountain glaciers.

scholarly journals Inter-seasonal and inter-annual variations of mean and eddy atmospheric energetics over India

MAUSAM ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-46
Author(s):  
M. RAJEEVAN ◽  
K. C. SINHA RAY
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Latent Heat ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Monsoon Season ◽  
Sensible Heat Flux ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Sensible Heat ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Annual Variations ◽  
Eddy Fluxes

Using daily upper air data from 1000 to 250 hPa of 20 stations during the period 1983-87 , the inter-sasonal and inter-annual variations of vertically intearated mean and eddy sensible and latent heat fluxes over India were examined. Vertically intearated meridional, sensible and latent fluxes (both mean and eddy fluxes) were generally southwards over the country except over northeastern parts. Large seasonal variation of mean sensible heat and latent heat flux values occur in association with the seasonal shifts of Hadley circulation. Maximum sensible heat fluxes were observed during pre-monsoon season over northern parts of India. Maximum latent heat fluxes were observed over central parts of India during monsoon season. Eddy fluxes were two order smaller than fluxes due to mean flow during all seasons. Maximum eddy fluxes occur in winter and are accomplished by large scale transient eddies. The eddy fluxes were practically negligible equatorwards of 15°N. Seasonal variations of fluxes over low latitudes were, however, different from the zonal pattern of annual cycle obtained by Oort (1971).   There were significant differences in meridional mean and eddy flux values between 1983 (a good monsoon year) and 1987 (a bad monsoon year). During 1983 (1987) the sensible heat flux values due to transient eddies were equatorwards (polewards) during the premonsoon as well as monsoon seasons. Similarly during monsoon season of 1983 larger northward mean sensible and latent heat fluxes were observed. In addition there were significant differences in vertical structure of zonal sensible and latent heat fluxes between 1983 and 1987 also.

scholarly journals Comparison of turbulent structures and energy fluxes over exposed and debris-covered glacier ice

2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (258) ◽  
pp. 543-555 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsey Nicholson ◽  
Ivana Stiperski
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Latent Heat ◽  
Similarity Theory ◽  
Sensible Heat Flux ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Temperature Fields ◽  
Sensible Heat ◽  
Energy Fluxes ◽  
Glacier Surface ◽  
Debris Cover

AbstractWe present the first direct comparison of turbulence conditions measured simultaneously over exposed ice and a 0.08 m thick supraglacial debris cover on Suldenferner, a small glacier in the Italian Alps. Surface roughness, sensible heat fluxes (~20–50 W m−2), latent heat fluxes (~2–10 W m−2), topology and scale of turbulence are similar over both glacier surface types during katabatic and synoptically disturbed conditions. Exceptions are sunny days when buoyant convection becomes significant over debris-covered ice (sensible heat flux ~ −100 W m−2; latent heat flux ~ −30 W m−2) and prevailing katabatic conditions are rapidly broken down even over this thin debris cover. The similarity in turbulent properties implies that both surface types can be treated the same in terms of boundary layer similarity theory. The differences in turbulence between the two surface types on this glacier are dominated by the radiative and thermal contrasts, thus during sunny days debris cover alters both the local surface turbulent energy fluxes and the glacier component of valley circulation. These variations under different flow conditions should be accounted for when distributing temperature fields for modeling applications over partially debris-covered glaciers.

scholarly journals Urban signals in high-resolution weather and climate simulations: role of urban land-surface characterisation

2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 701-728
Author(s):  
Denise Hertwig ◽  
Sue Grimmond ◽  
Margaret A. Hendry ◽  
Beth Saunders ◽  
Zhengda Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Sensible Heat Flux ◽  
Urban Land ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Anthropogenic Heat ◽  
Urban Surface ◽  
City Centre ◽  
Sensible Heat ◽  
Climate Simulations

Abstract Two urban schemes within the Joint UK Land Environment Simulator (JULES) are evaluated offline against multi-year flux observations in the densely built-up city centre of London and in suburban Swindon (UK): (i) the 1-tile slab model, used in climate simulations; (ii) the 2-tile canopy model MORUSES (Met Office–Reading Urban Surface Exchange Scheme), used for numerical weather prediction over the UK. Offline, both models perform better at the suburban site, where differences between the urban schemes are less pronounced due to larger vegetation fractions. At both sites, the outgoing short- and longwave radiation is more accurately represented than the turbulent heat fluxes. The seasonal variations of model skill are large in London, where the sensible heat flux in autumn and winter is strongly under-predicted if the large city centre magnitudes of anthropogenic heat emissions are not represented. The delayed timing of the sensible heat flux in the 1-tile model in London results in large negative bias in the morning. The partitioning of the urban surface into canyon and roof in MORUSES improves this as the roof tile is modelled with a very low thermal inertia, but phase and amplitude of the grid box-averaged flux critically depend on accurate knowledge of the plan-area fractions of streets and buildings. Not representing non-urban land cover (e.g. vegetation, inland water) in London results in severely under-predicted latent heat fluxes. Control runs demonstrate that the skill of both models can be greatly improved by providing accurate land cover and morphology information and using representative anthropogenic heat emissions, which is essential if the model output is intended to inform integrated urban services.

The progress on the observation and modeling of surface heat fluxes and evapotranspiration over heterogeneous landscapes of the Third Pole region

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaoming Ma
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Latent Heat Flux ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Sensible Heat Flux ◽  
Surface Heat ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Sensible Heat ◽  
Surface Heat Fluxes ◽  
The Third ◽  
Land Surface Heat Fluxes

<p>The exchange of heat and water vapor between land surface and atmosphere over the Third Pole region (Tibetan Plateau and nearby surrounding region) plays an important role in Asian monsoon, westerlies and the northern hemisphere weather and climate systems. Supported by various agencies in the People’s Republic of China, a Third Pole Environment (TPE) observation and research Platform (TPEORP) is now implementing over the Third Pole region. The background of the establishment of the TPEORP, the establishing and monitoring plan of long-term scale (5-10 years) of it will be shown firstly. Then the preliminary observational analysis results, such as the characteristics of land surface energy fluxes partitioning and the turbulent characteristics will also been shown in this study. Then, the parameterization methodology based on satellite data and the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) observations has been proposed and tested for deriving regional distribution of net radiation flux, soil heat flux, sensible heat flux and latent heat flux (evapotranspiration (ET)) and their variation trends over the heterogeneous landscape of the Tibetan Plateau (TP) area. To validate the proposed methodology, the ground measured net radiation flux, soil heat flux, sensible heat flux and latent heat flux of the TPEORP are compared to the derived values. The results showed that the derived land surface heat fluxes over the study areas are in good accordance with the land surface status. These parameters show a wide range due to the strong contrast of surface feature. And the estimated land surface heat fluxes are in good agreement with ground measurements, and all the absolute percent difference in less than 10% in the validation sites. The sensible heat flux has increased slightly and the latent heat flux has decreased from 2001 to 2016 over the TP. It is therefore conclude that the proposed methodology is successful for the retrieval of land surface heat fluxes and ET over heterogeneous landscape of the TP area. Further improvement of the methodology and its applying field over the whole Third Pole region and Pan-Third Pole region were also discussed.</p>

scholarly journals A New Technique to Estimate Sensible Heat Fluxes around Micrometeorological Towers Using Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems

2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (9) ◽  
pp. 2103-2112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Temple R. Lee ◽  
Michael Buban ◽  
Edward Dumas ◽  
C. Bruce Baker
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Sensible Heat Flux ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft Systems ◽  
Sensible Heat ◽  
Aircraft Systems ◽  
Convection Initiation

AbstractUpscaling point measurements from micrometeorological towers is a challenging task that is important for a variety of applications, for example, in process studies of convection initiation, carbon and energy budget studies, and the improvement of model parameterizations. In the present study, a technique was developed to determine the horizontal variability in sensible heat flux H surrounding micrometeorological towers. The technique was evaluated using 15-min flux observations, as well as measurements of land surface temperature and air temperature obtained from small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) conducted during a one-day measurement campaign. The computed H was found to be comparable to the micrometeorological measurements to within 5–10 W m−2. Furthermore, when comparing H computed using this technique with H determined using large-eddy simulations (LES), differences of <10 W m−2 were typically found. Thus, implementing this technique using observations from sUAS will help determine sensible heat flux variability at horizontal spatial scales larger than can be provided from flux tower measurements alone.

Observed Impact of Atmospheric Aerosols on the Surface Energy Budget

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (14) ◽  
pp. 1-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison L. Steiner ◽  
Dori Mermelstein ◽  
Susan J. Cheng ◽  
Tracy E. Twine ◽  
Andrew Oliphant
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Surface Energy ◽  
Latent Heat ◽  
Atmospheric Aerosols ◽  
Sensible Heat Flux ◽  
Surface Fluxes ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Surface Energy Budget ◽  
Environmental Drivers ◽  
Sensible Heat

Abstract Atmospheric aerosols scatter and potentially absorb incoming solar radiation, thereby reducing the total amount of radiation reaching the surface and increasing the fraction that is diffuse. The partitioning of incoming energy at the surface into sensible heat flux and latent heat flux is postulated to change with increasing aerosol concentrations, as an increase in diffuse light can reach greater portions of vegetated canopies. This can increase photosynthesis and transpiration rates in the lower canopy and potentially decrease the ratio of sensible to latent heat for the entire canopy. Here, half-hourly and hourly surface fluxes from six Flux Network (FLUXNET) sites in the coterminous United States are evaluated over the past decade (2000–08) in conjunction with satellite-derived aerosol optical depth (AOD) to determine if atmospheric aerosols systematically influence sensible and latent heat fluxes. Satellite-derived AOD is used to classify days as high or low AOD and establish the relationship between aerosol concentrations and the surface energy fluxes. High AOD reduces midday net radiation by 6%–65% coupled with a 9%–30% decrease in sensible and latent heat fluxes, although not all sites exhibit statistically significant changes. The partitioning between sensible and latent heat varies between ecosystems, with two sites showing a greater decrease in latent heat than sensible heat (Duke Forest and Walker Branch), two sites showing equivalent reductions (Harvard Forest and Bondville), and one site showing a greater decrease in sensible heat than latent heat (Morgan–Monroe). These results suggest that aerosols trigger an ecosystem-dependent response to surface flux partitioning, yet the environmental drivers for this response require further exploration.

scholarly journals Coastal Wind and Turbulence Observations during the Morning and Evening Transitions over Tropical Terrain

2017 ◽  
Vol 56 (12) ◽  
pp. 3167-3185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek D. Jensen ◽  
Timothy A. Price ◽  
Daniel F. Nadeau ◽  
Jacob Kingston ◽  
Eric R. Pardyjak
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Sensible Heat Flux ◽  
Sea Breeze ◽  
Flow Regimes ◽  
Resource Assessment ◽  
Sensible Heat ◽  
Coastal Site ◽  
Synoptic Forcing ◽  
Mean Wind Speed

AbstractData collected during a multiyear, wind-resource assessment over a multi-land-use coastal environment in Belize are used to study the development and decay of wind and turbulence through the morning and evening transitions. Observations were made on three tall masts, forming an inland transect of approximately 5 km. The wind distribution is found to be bimodal and governed by synoptic scales, with onshore and offshore flow regimes. The behavior between the coastal and inland sites is found to be very similar when the flow is directed offshore; for onshore flow, stark differences occur. The mean wind speed at the coastal site is approximately 20% greater than the most inland site and is nearly constant throughout the diurnal cycle. For both flow regimes, the influence of the land–sea breeze circulation is inconsequential relative to the large-scale synoptic forcing. Composite time series are used to study the evolution of sensible heat flux and turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) throughout the morning and evening transitions. The TKE budget reveals that at the coastal site mechanical production of TKE is much more important than buoyant production. This allows for the unexpected case in which TKE increases through the ET despite the decrease of buoyant TKE production. Multiresolution flux decomposition is used to further study this phenomenon as well as the evolution of the sensible heat flux at differing time scales. An idealized schematic is presented to illustrate the timing and structure of the morning and evening transitions for an inland site and a coastal site that are subjected to similar synoptic forcing.

scholarly journals Improving Computation of Sensible Heat Flux over a Water Surface Using the Variational Method

2006 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 678-686 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zuohao Cao ◽  
Jianmin Ma ◽  
Wayne R. Rouse
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Variational Method ◽  
Gradient Method ◽  
Similarity Theory ◽  
Sensible Heat Flux ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Eddy Correlation ◽  
Sensible Heat ◽  
Flux Gradient

Abstract In this study, the authors have performed the variational computations for surface sensible heat fluxes over a large northern lake using observed wind, temperature gradient, and moisture gradient. In contrast with the conventional (Monin–Obukhov similarity theory) MOST-based flux-gradient method, the variational approach sufficiently utilizes observational meteorological conditions over the lake, where the conventional flux-gradient method performs poorly. Verifications using direct eddy-correlation measurements over Great Slave Lake, the fifth largest lake in North America in terms of surface area, during the open water period of 1999 demonstrate that the variational method yields good agreements between the computed and the measured sensible heat fluxes. It is also demonstrated that the variational method is more accurate than the flux-gradient method in computations of sensible heat flux across the air–water interface.

scholarly journals Multi-scale snowdrift-permitting modelling of mountain snowpack

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Vionnet ◽  
Christopher B. Marsh ◽  
Brian Menounos ◽  
Simon Gascoin ◽  
Nicholas E. Wayand ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Snow Depth ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Topographic Effects ◽  
Blowing Snow ◽  
Wind Fields ◽  
Canopy Interception ◽  
Multi Scale ◽  
Temporal And Spatial

Abstract. The interaction of mountain terrain with meteorological processes causes substantial temporal and spatial variability in snow accumulation and ablation. Processes impacted by complex terrain include large-scale orographic enhancement of snowfall, small-scale processes such as gravitational and wind-induced transport of snow, and variability in the radiative balance such as through terrain shadowing. In this study, a multi-scale modeling approach is proposed to simulate the temporal and spatial evolution of high mountain snowpacks using the Canadian Hydrological Model (CHM), a multi-scale, spatially distributed modelling framework. CHM permits a variable spatial resolution by using the efficient terrain representation by unstructured triangular meshes. The model simulates processes such as radiation shadowing and irradiance to slopes, blowing snow redistribution and sublimation, avalanching, forest canopy interception and sublimation and snowpack melt. Short-term, km-scale atmospheric forecasts from Environment and Climate Change Canada's Global Environmental Multiscale Model through its High Resolution Deterministic Prediction System (HRDPS) drive CHM, and were downscaled to the unstructured mesh scale using process-based procedures. In particular, a new wind downscaling strategy combines meso-scale HRDPS outputs and micro-scale pre-computed wind fields to allow for blowing snow calculations. HRDPS-CHM was applied to simulate snow conditions down to 50-m resolution during winter 2017/2018 in a domain around the Kananaskis Valley (~1000 km2) in the Canadian Rockies. Simulations were evaluated using high-resolution airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) snow depth data and snow persistence indexes derived from remotely sensed imagery. Results included model falsifications and showed that both blowing snow and gravitational snow redistribution need to be simulated to capture the snowpack variability and the evolution of snow depth and persistence with elevation across the region. Accumulation of wind-blown snow on leeward slopes and associated snow-cover persistence were underestimated in a CHM simulation driven by wind fields that did not capture leeside flow recirculation and associated wind speed decreases. A terrain-based metric helped to identify these lee-side areas and improved the wind field and the associated snow redistribution. An overestimation of snow redistribution from windward to leeward slopes and subsequent avalanching was still found. The results of this study highlight the need for further improvements of snowdrift-permitting models for large-scale applications, in particular the representation of subgrid topographic effects on snow transport.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document